oikos is a community of changemakers: students, chapters, alumni, and partners, working together to transform business and economic systems starting with education.
oikos functions as a living ecosystem where different actors play distinct but interconnected roles. Students organize locally in oikos Chapters at their universities. As active chapter members they work on local projects, collaborating with their schools, professors, businesses and other stakeholders. Internationally, they connect with peers in chapters from different universities, through participation in oikos Internatinal programs and cross-chapter collaborations. After graduating, many oikees remain engaged within our community as Alumni members, fostering inter-generational connection and knowledge sharing with active member.
The oikos Partners Network connects students with some of the world’s most influential sustainability and education platforms, such as PRME, HESI, Sulitest, PIR and Carbon Literacy Project. This gives students the opportunity to increase their impact beyond their campus. Through these partnerships, they can access global research hubs, participate in high-profile events, receive professional training, collaborate on real curriculum-change projects and engage with UN-linked initiatives. In short, oikos’ partners enable students to leverage international expertise, credibility and resources to transform your ideas into tangible actions and help shape the future of sustainable economics and management.
The oikos story begins in 1987 at the University of St. Gallen. Local students created an association with the aim of connecting economics with ecological awareness. It was envisioned to give students a voice and laid the foundations for student-led sustainability movement. For over a decade of existence, the St. Gallen association drew attention from other campuses. This lead to establishment of new chapters on campuses beyond St. Gallen. And so, oikos International was born – a network of students organizing across borders, initially within Europe and eventually spread out to Asia, Africa and the Americas. oikos became a global movement.
For over three decades, oikos had a presence on many university and business school campuses. A testament to the size and long lasting of our network is the thriving alumni community bridging generational gaps. Continuously innovative and adapting to the global circumstances at different times, oikos has a rich history of programs. Over the years, we’ve hosted oikos Academies, Summer and Winter Schools, Case Competitions and many other programs that solidified the association of oikos with student sustainability movement worldwide.
oikos International empowers local chapters by providing organisational guidance, IT infrastructure, communication materials and mentorship to help students effectively launch and manage initiatives. The team coordinates global programmes, such as curriculum-change projects, international ‘squads’, workshops and summits, while also handling fundraising, impact measurement and partnerships. By combining practical support with strategic coordination, the team ensures that chapters have the necessary resources, networks and visibility to run meaningful sustainability projects and create a real impact on economics and management education.
The oikos Team consists of different functions following our constitution:
International Board: Elected by chapter representatives; sets strategy, oversees global programs, manages budget and partnerships.
Advisory Council: Experienced professionals, alumni, and academics providing guidance, mentorship, and strategic insight.
International Team: Volunteers and staff managing communications, fundraising, IT, operations, and program delivery.
This structure balances global coordination with local autonomy, enabling chapters to lead while benefiting from mentorship, shared tools, and international networks.
our programs drive sustainability on campuses worldwide through supporting students’ personal and professional development. by donating you can help keep our work future-proof and accessible to students worldwide.
